Jose Luis Mancilla Angulo wins 52nd International Art Competition

Jose Luis Mancilla Angulo won this year’s 52nd International Art Competition with his piece titled ‘Don Quijote y Sancho Panza’.

He told the Chronicle he was very grateful to win, adding that had a lot of admiration for Gibraltarian painter Gustavo Bacarisas and was familiar with his work from a museum in Seville.

A resident of Ubrique he was also a frequent visitor to the area and knew it well. He felt his painting captured this.

The judge of this year’s International Art Competition, Maria Lisogorskaya, a London-based artist and co-founding member of Assemble, the award-winning art, architecture, and design studio.

The winners were announced at the opening of the exhibition on Tuesday evening, at the Gustavo Bacarisas Gallery in Casemates.

She awarded second place to Bathsheba Peralta for her work ‘Front Row Dior Paris’ and third prize was awarded to Anna Latin for her painting ‘Nebulous’.

Juan Anelo took the Gibraltar themed prize with his work ‘The Quite Ascent in Gavino’s Court, Gibraltar’.
Finally, the young artist award was given to a ceramic piece by Tyron Vera, called ‘Where no voices reach’ that

Speaking at the opening of the exhibition she said: “It's obviously a very difficult thing to do to choose your favourite artwork. I have only seen them for a few hours, but there is so much great art here, so many stories and beautiful mediums.”

“And I just hope these artworks continue to live on in great custody, new homes or existing homes, and bring kind of new ideas, new journeys to everyone.”

She awarded highly commended to the following, Phoebe Nobel for ‘The Last to Cross’, Hannah Cavilla Latin for ‘Still Here’, Lucia Palma Sarmiento for ‘Autorretrato’, Lorraine Buhagiar for ‘Ninja Turtle and Candy Stripes’, Catherine Cumberbatch for ‘I see you (Grace), Nataly Lalyar Victor for ‘Seascape’ and Karl Ullger for ‘The Quiet Inferno’.

The exhibition will be open to the public until November 15.

JUDGES’ COMMENTS: Overall winner ‘Don Quijote y Sancho Panza’ by Jose Luis Mancilla Angulo - She was struck by its technical proficiency and Mr Mancilla Angulo evocative use of light. “This one just feels like the light, the way the light was captured, and the detail of the architecture. I thought it was technically really well executed. It had an interesting mood.” As an architect herself, she admitted a personal bias, noting, “Obviously, I'm a bit biased being an architect, I was maybe drawn to it,” but she also felt it was unpretentious.

JUDGES’ COMMENTS: Second prize ‘Front Row Dior Paris’ by Bathsheba Peralta - She said she stood out for its vibrancy and theatrical expressions and she was captivated by “the theatre of it, the theatre of being at a fashion show, all the colours and textures, the expressions, the line work is very confident, like I love the way this person's been drawn.” The noted the timeless quality of the work as it could be from a number of different eras.

JUDGES’ COMMENTS: Third prize ‘Nebulous’ by Anna Latin - Which she said is “just so lovely to look at, the colour and the texture, the movement, it's just very enjoyable and beautiful and serene at the same time.” “For me, it's just that kind of calm still.”

JUDGES’COMMENTS: Gibraltar themed prize ‘The Quite Ascent in Gavino’s Court, Gibraltar’ by Juan Anelo - Ms Lisogorskaya recognised its authentic depiction of local life: “It just feels like a nice scene... it feels like I've learned something about Gibraltar from this image... just the moment, of someone who maybe lives there.”

JUDGES’ COMMENTS: Young artist award ‘Where no voices reach’ by Tyron Vera - She was moved her with its simplicity. “I thought it was just quite simple and quite moving,” and she admired “the way that they worked with ceramic,” noting it was “nice, a different medium.”